Brand new bearded dragon owner

[Denise Brown]

Hello everyone,

My name is Denise. I just got my first beard dragon today, got it all set up and I'm so excited to have it. I own a red eared slider turtle and a 9 month old cane corso puppy. I do would like to ask if there is any advice you could give me i would greatly appreciate it. also i was wondering after getting my beardy set up can i start handling it or should i give it time to adjust. if so how long should that time be, and as far as handling how often and long would you suggest?

 

[Canicke]

welcome, Denise. there's a lot to learn. please take a look at the links below - lots of good information. lets start with some basic questions - how old is your little one? from where did you get him? details on your tank, please - pictures help - what is the basking temp? what is the ambient temp? do you have a hide? what kind of lights do you have? yes - please give him time to adjust. you can certainly interact with him daily - touch under his chin and tummy with your fingers. pick him up IN THE TANK. my boy likes the pockets behind his neck rubbed. and the area on his face between his eyes. If he's very young, he will be very fast. I would give him at least a week, maybe 2 to get adjusted to you and your puppy. please - do not take him out of the tank with your puppy around until you get used to handling him - like I said, they are fast and can jump and run away before you know it. I would start in a safe place. a room without a lot of places for him to hide. I would start with a few minutes and work your time up. sometimes, its easier to start handling them in the evening when they are getting ready to go to sleep - less reactive and maybe more willing to snuggle. read through the info below and ASK !!!! Welcome to your new adventure

 

[Denise Brown]

right now this is what i have, I got it at petsmart and i bought the kit, the only thing that it didn't come with was the carpet, i don't want to use the sand, after reading not to use the sand. i also gotta get a hide away thing for it as well. I'm not sure how to tell how old it is if you could let me know i would appreciate it.

 

[Canicke]

what an adorable little guy ! what did you name him? I'm guessing he's several weeks old. he just a little guy. paper towels are JUST FINE !! glad that you're not using sand - good for you. a hide doesn't need to be anything fancy. for my gecko I took a small cardboard box and cut a hole in the front. he doesn't know the diff ! did you get a heat gun? what are his temps? he will probably outgrow this set up within a year - depends on how fast he grows.

 

[Denise Brown]

I named him toothless lol, just chose a gender neutral name since idk if its a boy or girl. the kit came with a UVB bulb and it also came with a heat bulb for day and night w/ dome lamp. as far as the temp the last i looked at it earlier it was in the basking side about 90-95 but ill have to look for sure to see what it is right now. but i have a puppy on my lap thinking she's a small puppy lol. 9 month old mastiff puppy lol

 

[Denise Brown]

i chose him cause he was the only one showing personality and it was so pretty compare to the others

 

[Canicke]

re: the night lamp - unless it's one of those which does not emit light - CHE (eramic heat emitter) I would recommend that you not use it at night. any light can interrupt their sleep. unless your house gets under 65 at night - you probably don't need the heat anyway. I would try to bump his basking temp up a bit - a few degrees over 100 for little guys (like 104) maybe use the night light as an add on heat source. get him a cardboard box please. a 9 month old mastiff puppy IS a lap dog - ya just gotta redefine "lap"

 

[Denise Brown]

idk how to change the temperature on the heat lamp, it just has an on/off switch

 

[Denise Brown]

would i put the cardboard box on the heat side or the cool side?

 

[Canicke]

You can actually use two boxes – one on each side To increase the temperature – increase the height of his basking spot – you may need to make it wider at the bottom to allow him to climb up another level

 

[BrookeE]

Your heat lamp won't come with an option to change the temperature.
You could make his basking spot taller, thus closer to the lamp, which will raise the temperature.
Personally I would say that if you can get the basking spot about maybe 8-10'' from the bulb and its still not at about 102-107 degrees, you may ought to just get a stronger, higher wattage bulb.

 

[Denise Brown]

Ok thank you so much I named him toothless lol

 

[Hdrydr31]

Congrats on your little one very cute!.. love the name..
take a look at the links below several of our comments as we have put together general care info it may be of help for you.. Lighting and heat is Very important... for digestion and how they absorb the minerals from the foods...
Dome lights are very focused and can hurt their eyes.. Ideally you want the UVB lighting to cover 2/3rd of the tank and overlap slightly with your basking bulb..Most of us use Reptisun T5 HO 10.0 fixture/bulb set up..
No heat lamps of any color at all really during the day they don't allow their eyes to function correctly, and at night it can allow shadows that keep them from sleeping as the 3rd eye ontop of their head is how they protect themselves from predators...
Stick to fresh protein for food so those pellets are just all full of preservatives...As babies they need protein and lots of it crickets, dubia, phoenix worms, silkworms, superworms, waxworms, butterworms, hornworms are all ideas...also provide fresh greens each day but don't worry if they don't eat them right off the start as they get older you switch from live to more greens..
In the links we talk about all that and give you links for food items and lighting and temps..

Hope that helps

 

[Denise Brown]

So my dragon doesn't really go for the crickets, it looks like it's preferring the mealworms is that normal? It will eat the crickets when it wants to but when I put the mealworms in the he goes right after them. Is it ok to give him just mealworms instead of crickets or would you recommend something else?

 

[BrookeE]

Most of us avoid meal worms, we get superworms instead. They're just about identical to the naked eye. Superworms, however, are nutritionally superior. Mealworms have much harder exoskeletons and thus are harder for your beardie to digest. (Especially if youre still playing with the temperatures in his enclosure.) Its just an all around better idea to get super worms, just an FYI. Took me a while to figure out there was even a difference, so just giving you the heads up.

Superworms have higher fat content than crickets, so beardies do tend to like them more. You might even see some people talk about breaking a "super worm addiction." Sometimes they get so spoiled to the super worms or even just develop such a preference for them that they don't want anything else. I know that people use super worms as their staple protein, but I'm not sure if more experienced keepers would recommend that or not. I really try to mix up my bugs. As Hdrydr31 stated above "crickets, dubia, phoenix worms, silkworms, superworms, waxworms, butterworms, hornworms are all ideas."

Hopefully someone with a little more experience with a beardie eating a lot of super worms will give some advice.

 

[Hdrydr31]

Yes dragons tend to love superworms and they are a great staple food item however they are high in fat so you need to watch how many they are given.. And because of their fat dragons tend to really like them and not want other good feeders..